Your Guide To The Top 11 Fly Fishing Youtube Channels
Love streaming good videos, but hate sorting through hundreds of one-offs and poor quality material? We’ve done the work for you, sorting through the internet swamp to bring you the most informative fly fishing content on YouTube. These channels regularly post new information that can help you select gear and flies, improve your casting, approach the river and think like a trout, and other topics such as drift boating and rafting. The review opinions expressed here are based on recent review and research, and solely those of the author. Channels highlighted are in order of most to least subscribers.
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Catch Magazine
Catch magazine starting posting videos just over 9 years ago. While they still have less than 70 videos, they are high quality and entertaining. This channel goes worldwide to some of the most spectacular international destinations with top notch anglers. Most of the videos are set to great music, self described as the “official online journal of fly fishing photography and film.” The series is well worth perusing, and has the highest subscribership of any fly fishing channel on YouTube. While there are editions with solid material about technique in addition to the travel destinations and entertaining content, other sites may suit you better if you are a beginner looking for a progression of skill development.
The New Fly Fisher
Based out of Ontario, Canada, The New Fly Fisher has built a formidably large arsenal of videos. Their stated focus is to help all anglers, whether veteran or novice, learn more about fly fishing. From destinations to fly fishing tips & techniques, they take a broad approach and are working to be a one-stop shopping source for fly fishing information. Their videos feature a lot of fishing action, in addition to methods and tips, moreso than most fly video series which makes the series interesting on top of pertinent and useful information.
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Red’s Fly Shop
Red’s fly shop is located in the heart of the Yakima River canyon, in Eastern Washington. While the shop has been there for a long time, they recently expanded to include a restaurant, lodge style hotel, a few riverfront lots for development. Red’s has done much more than probably any other local fly shops to build solid educational content on all aspects of fly fishing and gear, and offers some of their own specialized techniques that will help you net more and larger trout. As a result, they have a large following including from many outside of WA state.
The Orvis Guide to Fly Fishing
Orvis has organized a high quality 13 part documentary TV series that teaches the fundamentals of fly fishing for all species, in all waters. Its purpose is to demystify fly fishing, make it fun and demonstrate it is both accessible and affordable. The series is hosted by well known celebrity angler Tom Rosenbauer. This series has a good progression of topics, lending itself to beginners – essentially the 101 of fly fishing. They also offer downloadable versions for a price, for your own use or with clubs etc.
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Field & Stream
Field & Stream is a broader outdoor sports media company, whose YouTube site has plenty of fly fishing content. What I like about the content is the widest diversity of material I’ve seen, beyond technique and gear to cooking, how to fillet fish, camp locations, and more. Self described as “devoted to the complete outdoor experience and lifestyle, Field & Stream gives its readers the knowledge and inspiration to pursue the sports they love.” If you enjoy your fly fishing content mixed in with hunting and other sports, this is a good channel to subscribe to.
REI (Recreational Equipment Incorporated)
REI’s fly fishing content is also interspersed with many other sports. What I like about the channel are the well assembled documentaries, such as the search for steelhead, that highlight locals and represent the sport very well. Even if there are relatively few fly fishing videos, they are very well done, more in a storytelling than an instructional mode. REI is a provider of quality gear, and typically doesn’t carry fly fishing equipment in most of their stores, so these videos appear to be a way to round out their content, reach a wider audience, and highlight their brand, extensive work in conservation, and membership opportunities.
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McFly Angler
This is the first of several channels produced by a single lead producer / angler, “McFly” has amassed 17,000+ subscribers with his entertaining and frequent video posts. Covering every angle of fishing, gear, and even such almost-off-topic-but-still-entertaining topics such as Fly Fishing After A Hurricane, McFly mixes it up with variety of his own quirky humor. He posts weekly fly tying tutorial videos, and also posts fishing “episodes” about 1-2 times per month, including product reviews, tips videos, and other fishing content. He has more recently expanded into the camping world as well.
HM Fly Fishing
Hywel Morgan is based in Britain, a group that has been posting video for 7 years with the most recent about 9 months ago. Their site creates fly fishing, fly tying and fly casting tutorials for anglers in all phases of their hobby or career. The site is about half fly tying, and half fly fishing. A particular advantage of this site is how the fishing techniques are broken down by species. However, the site is mostly Britain-based, which is fine but it lacks international or USA content compared to many other sites. The content is made by dedicated and professional fly anglers, who highlight both beginner level up to the pressures of preparing for fly fishing championships.
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International Fly Fishing Film Festival
This channel consists of fantastic short films and trailers produced by professional filmmakers from all over the globe, showcasing the passion, lifestyle and culture of fly-fishing. While the exclusive content for the full films is only available in theaters, or through purchase outside of YouTube, these trailers will whet your appetite and help you select which of the films you’d like to view. Their motto is “Fish hard. Love life. Be inspired.” Gotta love it!
The Fly Fishing Channel
This channel started by posting a number of “how to” fly fishing and drift boating videos a year ago, and has since primarily focused on fly tying demonstration videos. While still developing their content, you can identify what’s useful to you in a quick scan through their video list.
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Fly Fisherman Magazine
This one surprised us, from the premier fly fishing magazine, only 19 videos and 343 subscribers. That said, they are building quality content including wading safety which is often overlooked, and I’d expect to see more from FFM in the future.
Other YouTube Content
There are of course thousands of other fly fishing videos on YouTube. While we’ve focused on those “channels” that will bring ongoing quality content and you can subscribe to, if you have a specific location, technique (e.g. nymphing) or other topic in mind, of course, search on that topic and you will find a plethora of content. As always, if you see a topic you’d like us to review, reach out to us on our contact page!
